Congress Asset Management Co. Buys 555,568 Shares of Toast, Inc. $TOST

Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Toast, Inc. (NYSE:TOST) by 46.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,755,072 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 555,568 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. owned 0.34% of Toast worth $50,880,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in TOST. Bayban acquired a new position in Toast during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. SHP Wealth Management bought a new stake in Toast during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Toast in the second quarter valued at $31,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in Toast by 172.0% in the first quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 1,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 920 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Toast by 213.6% in the 2nd quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 1,068 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.91% of the company’s stock.

Key Toast News

Here are the key news stories impacting Toast this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Toast introduced a new Toast IQ team and expanded Toast IQ Grow capabilities. The tools are designed to help restaurant operators improve profitability, attract guests and manage labor, supporting Toast’s growth strategy and potentially increasing adoption of its software platform. New Toast IQ Team and Expanded Toast IQ Grow
• Neutral Sentiment: Toast executives disclosed multiple share sales, including transactions by CEO Aman Narang, CFO Elena Gomez, CRO Jonathan Vassil, President Stephen Fredette and General Counsel Brian Elworthy. The reported sales totaled roughly $1.9 million when including the latest CRO transaction, but the filings indicate the trades were made under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans or to cover tax withholding on vested equity. That reduces their value as a bearish signal, although the cluster of sales may create some negative sentiment. Toast Insider Trading Alert Jonathan Vassil Form 4
• Negative Sentiment: The insider activity follows Toast’s latest quarterly earnings, in which earnings per share missed analyst expectations even though revenue exceeded estimates and rose 23.1% year over year. The earnings miss and Toast’s elevated valuation remain risks for investors if growth or profitability fail to accelerate.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on TOST shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Toast from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. BNP Paribas Exane cut Toast from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $38.00 to $35.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Toast from $36.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Toast from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Toast from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $39.12.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Aman Narang sold 124,542 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.29, for a total transaction of $4,395,087.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 175,458 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,191,912.82. This trade represents a 41.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Elena Gomez sold 16,176 shares of Toast stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.29, for a total value of $570,851.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 168,974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,963,092.46. The trade was a 8.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 534,830 shares of company stock valued at $18,566,600. 10.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Toast Stock Performance

Shares of TOST stock traded up $0.21 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $30.25. 5,656,929 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,141,606. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.78 and a beta of 1.74. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $33.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.98. Toast, Inc. has a 52 week low of $22.26 and a 52 week high of $39.72.

Toast (NYSE:TOST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. Toast had a net margin of 7.14% and a return on equity of 23.90%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.13 EPS. Analysts expect that Toast, Inc. will post 1 EPS for the current year.

About Toast

Toast, Inc (NYSE:TOST) provides a cloud-based technology platform designed for restaurants and other foodservice businesses. Its platform combines point-of-sale hardware and software with tools for payment processing, menu and order management, employee operations, inventory, reporting and customer engagement.

The company’s products and services support in-restaurant, online and delivery orders, as well as gift cards, loyalty programs, marketing and payroll-related functions. Toast also offers restaurant-specific hardware, including terminals, handheld devices, kitchen display systems and self-service kiosks, allowing businesses to manage operations through an integrated technology ecosystem.

Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Boston, Toast initially focused on helping restaurants replace traditional point-of-sale systems with cloud-based technology.